You're My Check-Mate
by EiffiE
Summary: Sakura is just a desperate woman who would desperately sacrifice anything just to get rid of the 'one' thing she hated the most: her fixed marriage. And the one solution she could only come up with: have an 'affair'.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: CCS doesn't belong to me._

The story is a satire. Some parts of the story are intended to appear exaggerated.

Anyway, enjoy! :D

* * *

**You're My Check~Mate**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

Plan #1:

Life is like a game of '_chess'_.  
You don't plan. You just attack.

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

"So you're telling me that after all you've done for him, all he did was throw up, glare at you, force you to sleep on the couch instead, and blame you for getting sick the next day?"

The auburn haired girl rubbed her temple. "Tomoyo, you didn't have to repeat everything I've just said. It only makes me feel worse."

"Well, I couldn't blame him," the girl on the other line of the phone laughed softly. "Cooking isn't _exactly_ your talent."

And her friend had yet to add more salt to her wound.

She never said she had a talent for cooking. It was merely her _passion_! Couldn't anyone understand the difference between 'talent' and 'passion'?

"I never said it was my talent," the defensive girl scoffed at the phone. "It's my passion."

She heard yet another laugh.

Alright. Maybe she wasn't as good as Tomoyo when it comes to cooking but the food she made could never be that bad. Besides, she loved to cook! So, it didn't really matter if all the food she made were just 'normal', _in a sense_, right?

"Oh, Sakura… Don't worry! I'm sure that everything is going to be just fine. He managed to survive until now after eating everything you've made for him. So why wouldn't he survive it this time?"

"Haha. Very funny, Tomoyo." Sakura stuck her tongue out at the phone. "And come on. You know that's not what's really bothering me right now."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I was only teasing you."

Sakura chuckled. "Nah, it's alright." She sat up on the couch and stared at the white ceiling of the living room and sighed heavily. "Ever since last week, it had always felt like we're just two strangers forced to live together under the same roof. I even put my heart and soul into his favorite dish just so that we could finally get along! But nothing's working…"

"Were you both quarrelling about your _soon-to-be-husband_?"

Hearing _that_ just had to remind her of the cruel life she was about to face in a few months count. She didn't want to get married . Not that she didn't want that _forever_; just… _not yet_. She was only twenty-four—if you'd call that _only_—and she believed that it was still too early for her to spend the rest of her lifetime with someone whom she had never even met.

Her father confessed how worried he was of her because of her lack of interest for men. He didn't want his one and only lovely daughter to live miserably alone for the rest of her now-about-to-be miserable life. And his worst possible solution: _find her a husband_. And the sole suspect for giving her father the _fantastic_ idea of a worst possible solution: _her brother_.

_How I want to kick his ass right now._

She feared how people could change after their marriage. What if her fiancé was someone who was very sweet at first and he would unleash his devilish, demonic powers right after the marriage? Or he could be someone as revolting as her older brother who was a giant muscle narcissist. _Yuck_.

_I'm going to die puking if my fiance's going to be someone like him._

"Promise me you'd always visit my grave after I get married."

"Wha—" Tomoyo coughed into the phone in surprise. "—Your _grave_?!"

"I'm about to spend the rest of my life in hell."

"Sakura, you won't be _'spending the rest of your life in hell'_," the other girl laughed. "Look at it this way. I'm married and I've never once thought of our life together as what you'd call 'hell'."

"Easy for you to say. You always become _love drunk_ every night."

"Sakura!" Tomoyo laughed.

"Oh, just admit it. Whenever I think of calling you every night, I'd remember that horrible experience I had and just end up delaying the call for the next morning."

Sakura would never forget that time when she called Tomoyo's home in the middle of the night. When a male voice answered, she knew for sure that it was her friend's husband Eriol. She had never yet met the guy because he and her friend married in England; but since he often answered the phone every time she called, she already recognized his voice.

She remembered how Eriol's voice sounded so tired and husky, like he was drastically panting for some air. He seemed like he was struggling to speak to her normally when a loud moan came out right behind him.

And the fact that it came from a _familiar_ girl's voice made it even worse.

"That was really disgusting," she told Tomoyo. "I'm begging you to please remind your man to take a _short break_ before answering the phone again, most especially at _night_."

Tomoyo giggled. "Sorry."

"Oh, hey! Look at the time! I have to catch up at the supermarket!"

"The supermarket?"

"Yeah! There's this big afternoon sale today and it will only last until five! It's a chance for me to save on our supplies!"

Sakura could hear a long sigh from the other line. "Alright. Take care then!"

"I will! Thanks."

After she hung up, Sakura sighed quietly and walked to her brother's bedroom. When she was finally standing before the closed door, she cautiously raised her hand until she finally brought herself to knock on the door.

"Onii-chan? Are you still resting?" Sakura asked sweetly but no one answered. "I'm going to head outside for a bit, do some shopping and stuff. Do you need me to buy you anything?" Still, no one answered but she was sure that he was beyond that door.

Although she felt guilty for making her brother's stomach upset the other night, her patience still had its limits. _Just who the hell did he think he was? _ She understood that girls could get really over-emotional over so little things, but men?

_What? Is he undergoing his own _period_ as well?_

"If you don't open this damn door, I swear I'm going to cook something you'll regret for the rest of your life!"

_Wait._

_That sounded wrong._

It was as if she already admitted that her cooking wasn't really good. _But who cares._ As long as she could make him get his stinking butt off the bed and answer her, anything would do.

Just then, the door suddenly slammed open in front of her and her brother finally showed himself. The guy's expression was oh-so priceless! It was as if his whole life was about to be in jeopardy.

She knew using her _passion_ for cooking would work.

"Don't. You. Even. Dare." Touya glared at her.

But instead of shouting back at him for ignoring her all day long, she merely stared into a whirlpool of nightmares that was standing right in front of her.

"Oh, God! My eyes! They're buuurniiiiing!" Sakura immediately shielded her innocent little eyes from the big half-naked man.

Her brother merely rolled his eyes. "Stop sounding like you've never seen these abs."

_'Or you meant flabs,'_ Sakura snorted in her head.

"Anyway, why weren't you answering me?"

The tall man shrugged. "I was sleeping."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right!"

"Fine. I'll listen. Just let me do the cooking from now on. I don't want to risk losing another year of my life."

The corners of Sakura's lips twitched.

_My cooking couldn't be that bad!_

"Whatever!" Sakura raised her hands in surrender. "Anyway, I'm gonna go shopping. You know, there's going to be this big sale in the supermarket." And she slowly started forgetting her anger and started sounding so excited. "They said that there are items at fifty percent off! But the sale will only last until five so I have to hurry. Well, you wanna come?"

When she noticed that the guy she was talking to was already dozing off on her, her excitement quickly went off. Her temper began to rise as she unconsciously cracked her knuckles.

"Stupid onii-chan! I'm going to cook your stupid dinner!" she shouted as she stormed off. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you!"

**- O -**

Sakura took her wallet from her bag and handed her money to the cashier. While waiting for the cashier to process her payment into the cash register, she took a glance around her and found the place so quiet and normal. She really felt so stupid for getting excited over nothing.

She remembered when she finally got inside the supermarket. She was expecting to run over a wild horde of sale-hoarders but surprisingly, everything looked 'normal'. No scary mothers pushing each other around, no poor salesmen lying dead all over the floor after being stepped on numerous times, no nothing. It was until she finally asked one of the cashiers when she found out that the big sale was over days ago.

Of all the details she had to miss, it had to be the **date**.

"How stupid can I be?"

The cashier turned to look at her questioningly. "I wasn't saying anything."

Sakura quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She couldn't believe that she was really so stupid to even say out loud that she was actually stupid. "Oh, please don't mind me."

She eventually let out a soft sigh and looked down and depressed when she suddenly heard a quiet laugh by the counter. When she looked back up, she saw that it was the same cashier who was already putting all her groceries into the plastic bag.

"Is… Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. I'm sorry." The cashier finished packing all her groceries before turning to her while wiping off a tear of laughter from his amber eyes. "It's just that I find you quite _amusing_."

Sakura merely stared at him disbelievingly. She couldn't tell from his tone if he was giving her a compliment or if he was really just mocking her.

"That was a really interesting move you made back there."

"Pardon?"

"You know. When you came in," the guy continued. "You reminded me of an amazona who's ready to eat the store alive."

The nerve of that guy to call her an 'amazona'.

Sakura didn't want to cause a ruckus in public so she decided to take note of the rude guy's name instead. She looked at the cashier closely until she saw the nametag pinned on his shirt. "Li Syaoran?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am?" the guy smiled ever so kindly.

Sakura leaned a little closer to his face and whispered, "I'll remember that name." She smiled sweetly with a hidden intention beneath her tone, and took the plastic bags by force from the cashier's hands.

"How _tempting_," the man just had to pull her hand and whisper right into her ear with a sexy, hot voice, making Sakura quickly blush away.

"D-Don't get the wrong idea!" Sakura tried to hide the embarrassment visible on her face.

How could a guy like him flirt openly at a time like that? And he was working, for heaven's sake. Wasn't he afraid that he might lose his career? And to make things worse, he just had to give her a flirty wink.

Sakura turned her head away. "Hmph."

As she was walking away, she heard the young man say, "Thank you for shopping and _please come again_," with his seemingly innocent employee voice.

_Like I'd ever want to see you again_, she scoffed under her breath.

**- O -**

"I'm home."

When Sakura walked in, her brother immediately went out to the corridor to welcome her, which was _weird_.

"Welcome home, Sakura!" he flashed her that big smile which weirded her out even more.

Sakura looked carefully around the house. "Did an earthquake just happen?"

Touya looked at her bafflingly. "No. What made you ask?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought that maybe an earthquake have shaken your head so bad that you're acting like that."

She saw her brother clenching a fist before hiding it behind his back while mumbling a few words under his breath.

"Anyway, why don't you come over to the kitchen?" Touya told her while forcing a smile on his face. "I've got something _special_ to show you."

Hearing her brother say the word 'special' made her heart jump with joy. _Is he trying to make up with me?_

She never knew that her brother would also be kind enough to actually initiate the process of getting along with her. Back in the days, it was usually—_always_, actually—her who had to go and ask him for forgiveness whenever they got into a fight.

_Maybe he finally realized he was in the wrong for giving otou-san that unbelievable advice._

When they both got into the kitchen, Sakura first dropped the two bags of groceries on the kitchen counter before heading towards where her brother was standing.

"What's that?" she asked as she was staring at a bowl of delicious-looking ramen on the dining table.

"This, my dear Sakura, is what we _normal_ people call 'ramen'."

Sakura arched her eyebrow.

"I obviously know it's ramen," she said. "I'm asking what's so special about it that you had to show it to me."

Sakura watched as her brother walked over to the kitchen counter and opened the cabinet under it. He later took out another bowl with green bubbles popping out of what seemed like—

_My ramen!_

"This," Touya spoke as he showed her the other bowl, "is the magnificent work of my genius sister that is said to kill a person immediately in just one gulp. It is _very_ deadly."

_Deadly, my ass._

"Hey! It's edible!"

"Edible?!" Touya screamed in utter shock and annoyance. "You know what? Maybe you're the one whose head was terribly shaken by an earthquake."

"I've had it!" Sakura yelled at him. "And here I thought you were finally going to tell me that you're sorry."

"Sorry?" her brother sounded like he never knew what they were fighting about in the first place. "Just what the hell should I be sorry for?"

"See? See _that_?" she pointed at him. "You always act like you did nothing when in fact, you're the one at fault!"

Touya looked at her incredulously. "But what did I do?!"

"Ugh!"

Sakura heavily stomped her feet as she hurriedly walked away from him. She wanted to head outside, a whole farther away from her unbelievable brother, and take a breather. She honestly couldn't believe how her brother, and her father, could be so dense over what she was feeling at the time.

She just wanted to find _love_ on her own. She didn't need her two overly-protective family members to spat the whole _'you have to get married'_ on her face. She _was_ going to get married!—to someone she would choose, that is. It was just that she hadn't found the perfect man yet. There wasn't a rule that said every girl had to get married before she reached the age of thirty. So what if she found the man of her dreams at forty? Or fifty? Or sixty, even? She just didn't want to live her entire life with a man whom she might not get along with.

Tomoyo once told her to give her fiancé a chance, that maybe he could be the right guy for her. There was nothing wrong with that. She was okay with the idea, but…

_I just wanted to fall in love 'in the process'._

When Sakura opened the main door, her jaw dropped at seeing a very familiar guy standing at their doorstep.

"Oh! I was just about to knock."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"I know it's already late at night but," the guy started slowly.

"You…"

"I came to return something."

"You're that **RUDE** cashier!" the furious woman finally shouted.

"I'm honored that you actually remembered," Syaoran said with an innocent smile on his face.

"Just _what_ is your business here? And how did you know that I live here?" Sakura asked, annoyed even more by his pathetic smile with the word 'evil' hidden behind his face.

The man started explaining for himself but before Sakura could pay any attention to what he was saying, she suddenly heard her brother's footsteps coming her way.

"Sakura? Who are you talking to?"

_Oh, crap. If onii-chan saw us, he might accuse me for having an affair with this guy!_

Suddenly, a light bulb appeared over her head. _And that could actually be a good idea_, she thought.

If Sakura took that chance to make it appear that she _was_ having an affair with the cashier boy at her door, she would have a reason not to continue her marriage with her never-before-seen fiancé. Moreover, if she showed her father and her brother that she was actually having a 'secret relationship' with the cashier even before her father announced that she was engaged, she could actually have a big shot at breaking off the engagement!

_Sakura, you are a genius!_

"…So," Syaoran continued. "I looked over your wallet and saw your I.D. and that's how I found out that you live here. And that's why I'm here to return your wallet," he said and brought out her wallet from his pocket.

Sakura smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry. What was that again?" Obviously, she never caught anything he had said as she was too busy thinking over her devious plan.

"If you don't want your wallet back, that's a whole lot fine with me."

"Sakura," her brother's voice interfered, and it sounded even closer. "Who's that?"

Sakura glanced at the back and when she saw that her brother could finally see them together, she decided that it was time to put aside her shame and do what was needed to be done.

_Now's the chance!_

She grabbed Syaoran closer to her by holding onto the collar of his shirt and forced a long _unromantic_ kiss onto his lips.

The poor man who was victim to her plan was too shocked to react to whatever was going on. As he was holding onto the kiss, he saw her brother's eyes fuming with flames so hot that he could nearly melt in fear.

When Sakura finally pulled away from the kiss, she immediately linked arms with Syaoran like how she pictured sweet couples should look like.

"Onii-chan," she smiled happily and pretentiously. "I want to introduce to you my _boyfriend_."

The two men exchanged staggered glances at each other. The expression on their faces looked like they heard the most absurd thing in their entire life.

When realization hit, Touya's veins suddenly popped.

"**He's your what?!**"


	2. Chapter 2

**You're My Check-Mate**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

Plan #2:

The queen can abuse her pawn all she wants;  
But for the pawn to abuse the queen… _Not in her life._**  
**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

"I am really, really sorry for what happened before!"

The brown-haired man with heavy bags under his eyes held out his hand. "That would all be thirty-five bucks," he forced out a smile.

Sakura took out her purse and handed him the money. "I know what I did was reckless. I understand if you're mad at me—oh! What happened to your eyes?"

"Receiving fifty bucks," the guy said as he entered the amount into the cash register. He later handed her an amount of fifteen bucks. "Here's your change, ma'am."

The girl received her change and put her purse back into her bag. "Anyway, if only we could talk this out, maybe over dinner?"

"Thank you for shopping!" The store clerk heavily dropped the bag of groceries right in front of her face. "And please _don't_ come again," he said with a very pleasant smile.

_What do you mean 'don't come again'?!_

"Hey!" Sakura slammed her hands on the counter. "Were you even listening?!"

"I'd love to hang around and chat but as you can see…" Syaoran motioned his hand to the long line of impatient customers waiting behind Sakura, "…we have a lot of customers."

Sakura glanced behind her and noticed that his 'long line of customers' were all growling at her. And the fact that they were all girls told her that they were not _just_ 'customers'. She later looked back at Syaoran and stared at him up and down.

_Hmm… Not bad—except for the eye bags._ She had to admit, he looked pretty _attractive_. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

The store clerk heaved a sigh. "Are you going to stare at me all day?"

Sakura leaned a bit closer to him. "Are you sure these people are 'customers'?" she whispered.

Syaoran groaned in frustration, trying to stop himself from saying 'Isn't it obvious?' to her face. "They buy. They pay. They're the source of my salary. So, yeah. They're customers. Now, will you please move?"

"Fine."

Sakura took her bag of groceries and stepped aside. But she wasn't planning on leaving just _yet_. She had a purpose for going there. A very _important_ purpose. But to attain her very important purpose, she had to do the most difficult task on the face of the planet…

…Bringing out her cash in a 'no-sales' day.

_Crap._ _All my savings, gone!_—well, not really.

But, if she could find a way to talk to the cashier boy without letting him escape, she would be determined to do it. She would even follow him to the male's restroom if she had to!

"You're really persistent, aren't you?"

Sakura jumped when a voice came out behind her. When she turned around, she saw a black-haired guy with a happy-go-lucky kind of face. He was wearing the same uniform as Syaoran's so she thought that he must be working there as well.

"I used to think that you were just another one of his fans but after I saw how he talked to you, it looks like you two have a rather close relationship."

A close relationship? Not exactly. A complicated one? _Yes._

"He looks pretty busy, huh?" Sakura saw him looking at Syaoran.

The girl plainly shrugged. "I suppose."

"Poor guy." As much as the man tried to sound like he was pitying Syaoran, the smile on his face couldn't say the same. "I gotta thank him, though. He makes life easier for me," …and that answered the carefree look on his face.

"Oh, who's this?" a long, brown-haired girl appeared behind them. "A friend of yours, Yamazaki?"

Yamazaki shook his head. "Syaoran's. She always comes over to see him."

"I see! Nice to meet you then!" the girl took Sakura's hands and shook hands with her. "I'm Akizuki Nakuru, their supervisor."

"Uhm… I'm Kinomoto Sakura," the auburn head shyly introduced herself.

"So, you're Syaoran's friend, eh?" asked Nakuru.

Sakura smiled oddly as she scratched her cheek. "I-I guess?"

"I bet you're here 'cause you're worried about him, too."

Technically, Sakura went there for other _reasons_ they didn't need to know; but she supposed they could say that she was sort of worried as well. She _did_ kiss him by force after all. God knows what he might do to himself after what happened.

"I'm really worried," Nakuru looked very concerned as she was watching Syaoran. "He's trying so hard to smile to our customers even after _what happened_ to him."

Sakura swallowed. _She couldn't be referring to what I _did_ to him, right?_

"What… What did happen to him?" she tried to hide the uneasiness in her voice, pretending to sound as concerned as the other.

"Aren't you his friend? Didn't he tell you?" Yamazaki questioned. "He got himself _raped_."

Sakura gulped.

_Rape?! I didn't rape him!_

So maybe what she did was some sort of sexual harassment. But she didn't remember a 'forced kiss' to be regarded as something as horrible as _'rape'_! But what _if_ that was actually his very 'first' kiss? It could be possible. Maybe the reason why he had those large eye bags in the first place was because he cried all those nights after she stole something very precious to him. He must had felt so depressed and lonely…

_Oh, God! He's not planning to commit suicide, is he?!_

"I think he's exaggerating though—_ow_!" Nakuru elbowed the guy beside her.

"Well, I think it's awful," Nakuru sighed. "I wish I could do something for him."

"I-Indeed…" Sakura was slightly trembling in her sweat. "I… I think I should see him some other time."

"Why not wait for him?" Yamazaki asked her. "His shift is about to—" before he could finish what he was going to say, Sakura was already out of their sights, "—end?"

**- O -**

_Dear Otou-san,_

_By the time you read this letter, I am sure that you would have already noticed that I am nowhere to be found. But do not worry. I'm still alive and breathing. I am just currently hiding in a faraway land._

_I am writing this letter because I have _unintentionally _raped a guy._

_Wait a second—_If her father knew what she had done…

_'My daughter raped a man… How I have failed as a father…' _her father might kill himself!

She quickly erased the last line she just wrote.

_I am writing this letter because I have committed a very grave sin. I do not wish to tell you what this 'grave sin' is because I worry that your heart might suddenly freeze due to ultimate shock after finding out what it is._

_Yes, that's better_. She smiled, thinking to herself.

_I am extremely sorry for troubling you and bringing you shame. But please remember that I am always proud to be your daughter._

_I love you very much. Take care._

_With lots of love,_

_Sakura_

_P.S. If onii-chan says anything related to me, _**do not**_ believe him._

"How sad. Otou-san _will_ surely kill himself."

Sakura scratched everything she just wrote with her pen and tore the entire letter into millions of pieces.

She turned her seat around and glared daggers at Touya. "Can't I have any privacy here—in my room, at least?"

"What's to have a privacy for? I was eventually going to read it anyway, before you shredded it with your hands though. Oh, wait!" Touya acted as if he just realized something. "I _have_ already read it."

"Just pretend you haven't read anything," Sakura flashed him a really cute smile, "_please_?"

"Nice try," he smirked. "But it's not going to work."

"Oh, forget it!" Sakura screamed in annoyance. "What are you doing here so early anyway? Aren't you still supposed to be at work right now?"

"I left early."

_He _just_ left early?_

Sakura just couldn't imagine her brother's life in the office. It was like he was his own boss. She wondered why he never got fired or threatened to get fired. Unless… he was actually the one brave enough to threaten his own boss for trying to think of firing him.

_Yeah, that's probably it._ It was so like him.

"So, _who_ was it?"

"Just who is 'who'?"

"The guy you—" Sakura covered his mouth when she realized just _what_ he was going to say.

"I did not do such a thing!"

Touya took her hand off his mouth. "Then I wonder what the word 'rape' was doing in your letter a while ago."

Sakura eventually sighed in defeat. There was no escaping him and his big mouth.

"It was _that_ guy, wasn't it?" Touya asked.

"Onii-chan, is stealing a guy's first kiss considered 'rape'?"

He shrugged. "Depends on how you do it."

"But what if you forced it on him?" she asked.

"I knew it! _He_ isn't your boyfriend after all."

"He is _so_ my boyfriend!" Sakura retorted.

Her brother gave her that smug look that told her he didn't believe a word she had said.

"Fine. I'll prove it to you," she finally decided.

"Oh?" Touya looked amused. "And just _how_ are you planning to do that?"

"It's going to be something very convincing," Sakura said proudly.

"Don't tell me you're going to make me see your 'night stand' with him because I am _not_ going to watch that." He would rather give them his blessings than see his own sister's _you-know-what_.

Sakura stared at him, confounded. "What 'night stand'?"

The giant muscle head started laughing like a maniac. "My poor sister is about to get herself raped." Wiping his tears from his eyes, he patted her head and walked out of her room, leaving his little sister puzzled by the words he had left in her young mind.

_No, really. What 'night stand'?_

**- O -**

It had been an hour and a half since Sakura stood waiting outside the coffee shop where Touya was supposed to pick her up. She had just finished her work and since her brother told her that he was also going to leave the office early, they had planned to just meet up outside that coffee shop and go home together.

_But it's been almost two freaking hours!_

If she had known that he was going to be _that_ late, she would have just went inside the coffee shop and bought herself a relaxing hot cup of choco. But if ever her brother arrived and didn't see her outside, he most probably wouldn't trouble himself trying to look for her—or even call her, at least—and just go straight for home without a care in the world, knowing the impatient type of guy he was.

_Big brothers suck._

"Kinomoto-san…?"

Sakura wondered where the voice came from until she looked at the direction of the voice. Her face turned pale as soon as she saw the one guy she had wanted to _avoid_ the most.

_Crap! It's Syaoran!_

"It is Kinomoto-san!" …and there was Yamazaki, too.

Syaoran diverted his eyes away after mumbling 'crap' to her face.

Of course it was only natural for him to curse the unfortunate moment of having to coincidentally meet her. After all, who would ever want to see the very person who caused him to lose his lips' _virginity_?

"Yamazaki-san! Li-kun!" Sakura cried out, trying to hide the nervousness that was clearly in her voice. "What a pleasant surprise?"

"I haven't seen you at the market these past two days," said Yamazaki. "Were you busy at work?"

Sakura had work but she wasn't really that busy. She had an ample amount of time to go to the supermarket and see Syaoran like what she had always been doing for the past week. But after she realized the great deal of damage she had done to his poor young body, she found it quite uncomfortable to see him in person.

She was planning to personally apologize to him but she wasn't planning to do it right away. _I'm not ready to face him yet!_

"Oh, you know… There were stuffs and, err… stuffs." Sakura struggled to avoid eye contact with Syaoran—who was obviously doing the same.

The black haired guy looked at the both of them, back and forth, with a baffled look on his face . "Are you two avoiding each other?" When he looked back at Sakura, he was even more baffled to see her eyes starting to water. "Kinomoto-san?!" he paused to look at the guy beside him in panic, "Syaoran! Did I say something wrong?"

Syaoran turned to see what his friend was talking about when Sakura surprisingly ran to him in a burst of tears and squeezed him tight. "W-What the—"

"I'm sorry for raping you!"

Syaoran's eyes widened in absolute disbelief. All the people passing by stopped to stare at them.

"O-Oh… So this is what this was all about," Yamazaki scratched his head, laughing awkwardly. "I guess this means I should leave you two for today?" He immediately sped away after saying his goodbyes to the odd couple.

As much as Syaoran wanted to run away with Yamazaki from all the humiliation, he knew it was impossible to escape _her_ now.

Hesitatingly, he carried his hand over Sakura's back and patted her gently.

"Wonderful," he grunted under his breath. "Just wonderful."

**- O -**

"How are you feeling?" Syaoran asked the girl who was sitting across him in the coffee shop.

"I'm fine now. Thanks," Sakura smiled sweetly before taking a sip of her relaxing hot cup of choco.

Syaoran sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He would sometimes open his mouth, trying to form the words he had in his head because frankly, after the many things that happened to him for the past week, he just couldn't tell what to think anymore.

"Uhm…" Syaoran began. "About what you said earlier, I'm sorry you misinterpreted what my colleagues said to you."

"About you getting—"

"YES!—_That_," Syaoran snapped, not wanting to hear the sound of the same 'word' again. "It's just an exaggeration about this certain girl who was stalking me for some time. I couldn't sleep every night because she kept calling me at my apartment and I have no idea where she even got my number."

"Wow…" Sakura leaned her elbows on the table and cupped her face, mesmerizing his pretty face. "You're pretty popular for a store clerk, but you don't look like you appreciate being popular…?"

"It's troublesome to be stalked by people." Syaoran carried himself over the table until his lips could reach her ear. "And you're just one good _example_," he _hotly_ whispered to her with a smirk on his face.

Sakura felt hot with the trails of his voice spreading wide through her beet red face. When she realized that his face was too close, she quickly backed away and leaned her back against the chair.

"_That_," she pointed out, referring to his _hot-voice-whispering-to-her-ear_ kind of thing, "is exactly why girls around you become so intoxicated."

"How can you tell? Were _you_ intoxicated?"

"Obviously, yes—I-I mean, no! Are you crazy? Of course not!" Sakura's face could nearly explode with her face so flushed. "You have your own troubles, and I have mine. That is why I would like to propose a deal."

Syaoran heaved a looooong sigh.

"Become my _boyfriend_."

The man literally smacked his forehead. "Not _that_ again."

"Think about it!" Sakura sounded really determined. "I, for one, only want to get rid of my arranged wedding. As for you, if girls find out that you're already in a relationship, your stalker fans would eventually give you up until their numbers lessen. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

"Yeah. But there's one girl who will probably be left though."

"Who?"

"**You.**"

Sakura heatedly slammed her hands over the table as she stood up from her seat. "I am NOT your stalker!"

Syaoran smiled a small smile as he was trying to hold his laugh, while everyone else in the coffee shop were staring at her.

The embarrassed girl slowly sat down and drooped her face over the table. "…It's tiring… talking to you…"

Syaoran got rid of his chuckles before turning to answer her properly. "Alright. I'll accept the offer."

Sakura's ears went tingling. Her energetic soul returned to her lifeless body. She quickly raised her head and gazed at him in bewilderment. "Really? You'll really become my boyfriend?"

"If it's going to make my life any better, why not?" the man shrugged.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy that you—"

"But," Syaoran quickly cut her off, "that's an '**if**'. If pretending to be your boyfriend becomes troublesome, I'll immediately quit."

"Okay!~ Okay!~" Sakura's voice jumped for joy. Syaoran wondered if her brain even registered what he had just said. "Well, now that's done, it's time to think of how I should call you."

"You can just call me Syaoran, you know."

"But that doesn't sound cute at all…" Sakura pouted.

Syaoran groaned. "Do what you want."

"Yay!" the auburn haired girl clapped her hands in excitement. She always wanted to know how it felt like for girls to call their boyfriend cute nicknames. "So, how about… Syao-Li?"

"No."

"Syao-kun?"

"No."

"Syaowwy?" Syaoran shook his head.

_This is harder than I thought._

"Oh, I know!" Syaoran couldn't appear more excited to hear what she had to say next. "Syao-Syao!"

"HELL NO!" the furious man shouted at her. "What in the world do you take me for? A dog?!"

Sakura looked down on her hot cup of choco while playing around with her spoon. "But it's a cute name…" she mumbled to herself, feeling quite disappointed.

Syaoran tried to calm himself as he rubbed his temples. "Just… Syaoran is enough. _Please_."

"Alright…" She felt a little down for a moment before turning back to him with a pleasant smile. "What about you? How would you like to call me?"

"Is this a game to you?"

"Come on! Just try."

Syaoran sighed.

He folded his arms on the table and gazed at Sakura for a moment. He first stared at her beautiful auburn hair, down to her lovely emerald eyes, to her soft lips, her sexy neck, and _lastly_—

He suddenly frowned when he stared at her chest.

"I think I know something that just might fit you."

Sakura couldn't hide away the smile that was clearly growing big on her face. It was going to be her first time to be called with a cute nickname by a guy. She never had a boyfriend before; she only had as much as a crush or a one-sided love. But even if Syaoran was only going to act the part, it still felt good to finally have someone she could call her 'boyfriend'. That was better than having her family choose her boyfriend—_a.k.a._ _fiancé_—for her.

"How about I call you 'flat tops'?"

_Flat tops?_ It sounded like that chocolate brand her father used to bring home after his travels outside the country.

"Isn't that a chocolate brand?"

Syaoran laughed. "What? I don't know what you're talking about." Amused of just how naive she was, he pointed his hand to the part between her neck and stomach. "I'm referring to your chest."

The sweet, tender excitement quickly escaped Sakura's fantasies.

She gradually raised her hands as she was getting ready to strangle the devil sitting across her. "Why you—"

But before she could actually strangle him, the man instantly grabbed hold of her wrist and before she realized it, the gap between their faces decreased until she felt a _tingling_ sensation against her lips. It felt different from what she had 'forced' unto him before. What she did back then only felt as normal as two people holding each other's hands. But this time was different— this was definitely a _real_ kiss.

Syaoran slowly pulled away with a sly smile on his face. "How was it?"

Sakura's face went completely red when she realized what happened, like she had just woken up from a beautiful dream. She quickly pulled her hand from his grasp and covered her mouth. "What was that about?!"

Syaoran smiled evilly. "Aren't I your _'boyfriend'_?" He relaxed onto his seat and calmly drank his cup of coffee. "And it's partly _revenge_ for what you did to me before, actually."

The naive girl vacantly stared into a world of endless torture and suffering.

She thought asking a 'nice' guy to act as her boyfriend was just as easy and as normal as two kids playing 'house' where the little girl plays 'mommy' and the little boy is the 'daddy'. But those were the days of young innocence. How come she forgot that the man across her was already a full-grown adult?! Of course things could get bad!

_This is definitely not what I have planned…_

The man who was quietly drinking his coffee happily waved at her when he noticed her staring at him.

Sakura suddenly remembered what her onii-chan told her before… about getting herself raped.

Her upper lip twitched. _Not in my life._

* * *

_A/N: "Is 'Flat Tops' a real chocolate brand_?_"_ Yes, it is. You can search for it over the internet. Also, thank you for the kind reviews. I really appreciate it, thank you. I hope you liked this second chapter. And if you can, please be so kind as to leave a review~ Anyway, be writing again soon! :D

_~EiffiE_


	3. Chapter 3

**You're My Check-Mate**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

Plan #3:

If a person calls you 'flat tops',  
Assassinate… immediately.**  
**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me _outside_?"

Sakura stared outside the car window next to her as she tried to keep her face from showing the annoyance towards her brother. Ever since Touya _finally_ decided to show up after hours of waiting for him to pick her up, he had been lecturing her through and through while driving on the way home.

"I was looking all over for you!"

Well, technically, it wasn't _entirely_ her fault that he didn't see her outside the coffee shop in the first place. Who the heck would want to stand waiting and doing nothing for two freaking hours?! And if she hadn't met Syaoran that afternoon, she could have been standing like an idiot for three hours, even! And besides, knowing Touya, she really thought he would just mindlessly drive all the way home without a care that his sister wasn't where they were supposed to meet because she was either raped or kidnapped… _or _taken to hide somewhere by a _guy_ because of the most embarrassing thing that came out of her mouth.

"Sakura, are you even listening?"

She soon groaned in frustration. "You know, you could have at least _told_ me that your were busy flirting with your officemate. _Then_ I wouldn't have waited for two freaking hours!"

Touya flinched, seemingly full of guilt. He loosened his necktie a bit to let off some steam. "Kaho and I are just work buddies, nothing more. And besides, all we did was just plain business."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "_Riiiiight_… And just what _sort_ of 'business' are you referring to?"

"It's too long of a story to tell and too complicated to understand for a kid like you."

_Kid?!_ Who the heck was he calling a 'kid'?!

"For your information, I am a fully capable twenty-four year old adult," Sakura stated.

"And your proof?"

Sakura took out her wallet and shoved an I.D. to his face. "I got my driver's license just a few months ago."

Her brother merely snorted. "And I heard driver's licenses were just for display nowadays. You don't even drive."

"It's not like I don't want to drive!" she exasperatedly cried out at him. "It's just that you won't let me!"

Touya slowed down as he was carefully parking the car into their garage. As soon as they got out, he bent towards the body of the car while swinging the keys around his finger. "I drive _my_ car." He grasped the keys into his fist. "You drive yours."

"But I don't have a car…"

"Exactly."

Sakura eventually sighed in defeat and followed her brother into the house.

"By the way," Touya turned around to look at his sister before opening the door to the house, "the guy with you at the coffee shop… Isn't he the one who stopped by a week ago?"

"You mean, my _boyfriend_?"

Touya rubbed his eyebrows in aggravation. "Sakura, please. Cut it out with the joke. You're _engaged_ for heaven's sake!"

"Who said I was joking?"

Sakura passed by her brother and opened the door but before she could enter, Touya immediately blocked her way.

"You _can't_ be serious," he strongly stated. His expression told her that he would either 'kill' this so-called boyfriend or just lock her away in a hundred-feet tower where no other man could ever reach her.

But the auburn-haired girl only stared at him like she had no care for the world. "Don't I look serious enough?" she asked, pointing at her trying-hard-enough-to-be-serious face.

"I thought it was impossible for a guy to _actually_ agree to be your boyfriend."

_What do you mean 'impossible'?!_

Oh how Sakura wanted to knock out some sense into that evil man! It was like throwing it to her face that there was absolutely no way she could ever get herself a guy. How stupid could he get! Couldn't he see that she even got herself a fiancé (whom she actually passionately detested, by the way) and, uhm… a 'pretend' boyfriend!—but she couldn't let him know that Syaoran was just a 'pretend', of course.

Sakura scornfully glared at Touya. "Well, now you know it's possible."

"Then tell me…" Sakura sweatdropped at the smartass smirk her brother was giving her. "And since when have you two been together? Was it _last week_?"

_Crap!_

He couldn't possibly have seen through her motives, could he?

"A-Absolutely not!" Sakura quickly defended herself. "We've been together for longer than you think! Even before you and otou-san suddenly surprised me with the _'you're engaged'_ worst kind of news!"

Touya crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow into the air. "Really now?"

Irritated, Sakura pushed the annoying man out of her way and forcefully made her way into the house. "Oh, I'll show you."

**- O -**

_How the hell am I going to show him?!_

Sakura had been arguing with herself that entire day since yesterday when her brother challenged her to show him proof that she had been 'dating' with another guy for longer than he thought. And she, the proud girl that she was who would never let herself be defeated by the evil giant, quickly accepted the biggest challenge of her life. But the crucial question is: **how?!**

Let us see. She _never_ had a boyfriend. She _never_ had any experiences. She _never_ even went out on a single date. In short, she had absolutely _zero_ knowledge on love and dating. If that was the case, then how would she even be able to prove that she and Syaoran were all lovey-dovey?

Well, she tried using the modern day powers of the internet and searched for tips on dating and intimate relationships. And by golly, she found thousands of search results! Then, she went ahead and tried opening one of the websites on the results list. As soon as it opened, her innocent little eyes nearly popped out of her pale body at seeing whatever contaminated her oh so pure soul. She immediately unplugged the computer and swore to herself never to use the internet for love tips ever again.

_The internet is full of men's sticks of evil._

Since modern day technology failed her, she decided to go for a more conservative approach.

"Dating and Relationships for Dummies," Sakura said, reading the title of the book on her hand.

She just came out of work and decided to stop by the bookstore to find something she hoped could teach her how to become intimate with a guy. As soon as she entered the store, a book gleaming with such a beautiful light appeared right before her eyes as if it was sent down by an angel from heaven, answering her prayers. And she knew right at that very moment that it was _fate_.

She flipped a few pages of the book until she saw 'Intimacy like ABC'.

"Let's see," she started reading the chapter slowly, "Step A: Ask for a romantic walk down the cupid hills. A simple walk to a romantic place such as the park or the beach, or even a walk home, is a good way to spend a more personal time with the person you love. It doesn't only let you get to know one another even more but it also makes you both look like_ the sweetest couple the world has ever seen_."

Sakura could feel the corners of her lips rising.

_'The sweetest couple the world has ever seen.' Now _that_ I would want to shove into that idiot giant's face._

"Sakura?" a male voice called behind her.

"Oh, Syaoran!" she happily waved at the man who just came out of the supermarket. "You just finished work, huh?"

"Uh, yeah… What are you doing here?"

Sakura smiled sweetly. "Isn't it obvious, _boyfriend_? Let's go home together."

Syaoran scratched his head. "Sure… but, Yamazaki asked me to—"

"Syaoraaaaan!" Sakura twitched at the sound of that annoying happy-go-lucky voice. "Let's go out for a drink!"

_I'll kill anyone who would dare ruin my _'date'_ today._

"Heeeeey, Syaora—" Yamazaki lost his voice at the moment he saw a terrifying auburn-haired girl who was dreadfully glaring at him with an obvious intent to kill. His whole body shook nervously as sweatdrops formed on the side of his head. "O-On s-second t-t-thought… I think I'll c-call it a d-day…"

Sakura found herself smiling again as she watched Yamazaki running out of her sight.

"Sooo…" she said, turning back to Syaoran, "let's walk home?" She flashed a really cute smile at him.

Syaoran arched an eyebrow. "Walk? Who said we're walking?"

"H-Hoe?"

He reached into his pocket and showed her his keys. "I've got a car."

_Walk home together like the sweetest couple in the world: MISSION FAILED._

Sakura crossed her arms, pouting childishly on her seat.

_This doesn't look very sweet at all._

She couldn't remember a single time she had seen Syaoran with a car. The first time he went over to her house, he didn't bring any car with him. And just the other day, he even refused to walk her home because he didn't have a car and her house was far away (and that's when her brother spotted her). A car couldn't just magically appear right before him! And we're talking about a Porsche here! A freaking Porsche!

_Me and my God-forbidden luck…_

"What's the matter with you? You've been like that since you entered the car."

Sakura looked angrily at him. "_Why do you even have to own a car?_"

Syaoran sweatdropped, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. "Err… sorry?" was all he could say.

"Won't _real_ couples find it more romantic to 'walk' instead of 'driving' home?" she asked.

Syaoran almost choked at her words. "_Wait_," he paused to take in some air. "You suddenly want _us_ to become a real couple now?!"

"Well, we'll have to look 'real' or there won't be any point in doing any of this," she argued, only to find the other man laughing at her. "What's so darn funny?"

"God, you're desperate," he said, still slightly laughing.

Sakura tilted her head away, folding her arms above her chest. "Hmph."

"You know, if my workplace wasn't twenty something minutes away from your house, I'd gladly walk home together with you." Sakura went red in embarrassment. He did have a point. "But then again, I love my car too much more than you to even think about leaving it."

Okay. Just what was it with men and cars? First, Touya wouldn't even allow her to drive his car, let alone move two feet near the stirring wheel. And now, Syaoran was telling her that he loved his car more than her?! Cars didn't even have a manufactured soul to love them back! So why in the world would a man fall in love with a—_wait_. Did he just say that he loved his car more than _her_? Could that maybe mean that he also—

_Snap out of it, Sakura! You're thinking too much._

Of course he couldn't have a _thing_ for her. They were just pretending! And please… It hadn't even been a month since they knew each other.

Syaoran suddenly pulled up to a curb by the gasoline station. He left the car and closed the door, leaving the window in the driver's seat open.

"Why are we stopping here?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran peeped into the window and smirked. "I need a comfort room." Sakura suddenly feared the look in his eyes, reminding her of a side to him that was very, how should she call it… _perverted_. "You wanna _join_ me?"

And as if her intuition wasn't correct, he just had to invite her to do _what_? Watch him pee? Maybe he wanted her to see how he could make a perfect 'shoot' at the urinal like it was a first miraculous world record for men. Or he could even be planning to do a performance like _'jacking the beanstalk'_! She would rather go to hell than watch him do any of that!

"As if!" she screamed at him.

"Aww, too bad…"

Sakura threw the tissue box she found inside the car at the stupid perverted guy, but he was already too far away before the tissue box could hit him.

_Men and their way with words._

_Pisses me off._

Sakura sighed. She would have to remind herself to take a very hot bath at the end of the day.

She later took out her book from her bag and turned it to the page where she left off.

"Step B: Bond under a romantic candle light dinner," she read slowly. "Nothing is more romantic than a table dinner for two with a lovely rose or a candlestick at the center. Serve your loved one with a homemade meal made especially by no one else but you."

_That seems easy_, she thought.

Cooking had always been her 'specialty'. It wouldn't really hurt to invite Syaoran for dinner. He could take it as some sort of payment or thanks for driving her all the way to her house. And after all, if her brother would arrive home earlier and see her and Syaoran together, she would expect her evening to end _victoriously_. An introduction to the family, a.k.a. Touya, sounded like a _very_ wonderful idea.

Sakura chuckled evilly in her own little world.

_This is going to be a very lovely dinner, indeed._

**- O -**

"I'm not sure that this is a good idea," said Syaoran as he was cautiously gazing at Sakura's house from the window of his car.

"What are you talking about? Of course it is," insisted the persistent young woman. "Besides, what could be wrong with inviting my 'boyfriend' over for dinner?"

"In many ways. For one," Syaoran started counting, "I'm not your real 'boyfriend'. Two, I may be playing along with your little game but I'm still a _stranger_. I can't believe you're stupid enough to actually want to be alone with a stranger inside your own house." Sakura grinded her teeth. How she wanted to smash his face for saying that just now. "And three, have you forgotten how your brother glared at me when you told him I'm your _boyfriend_ last week? In case you do not know, I don't plan on dying just yet."

"One, you are _supposed_ to act like my real boyfriend. So you better start believing that we're real. Two, how can you call yourself a stranger when we've known each other since last week? And three," Sakura paused to take her breath, "onii-chan isn't even home yet so you still have a lot of time to call your lawyer and have him prepare your grave."

Syaoran stared at her incredulously. "Are you trying to be funny?"

Sakura shrugged. "Can't you tell?" She got off the car. When she noticed that Syaoran looked like he had no plan of ever leaving the damn vehicle, she loudly knocked on the car window three times to get his attention. "Get off. We're having our dinner, whether you like it or not."

The man just smirked and waved a happy goodbye to her. He was getting ready to leave the premises at once but when he reached into the ignition to turn the key, he was surprised to see that there actually was no key to turn at all.

Sakura knocked on the window again. "Are you looking for _this_?" she grinned evilly as she held up the keys behind the window. She knew watching crime shows could come in handy.

Syaoran quickly left his car. "Sakura, be a _good_ girl and give them back to me."

"Not until I get our 'dinner'."

He sighed as he tiredly ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, I get it. Will you give me my keys as soon as we get this over with?"

Sakura nodded. "Promise," she smiled ever so innocently.

_Invite 'boyfriend' to a lovely dinner at home: MISSION SUCCESS._

**- O -**

_Or maybe not…_

"What in the world is this?!" Syaoran cried out as he was staring terrifyingly at God knows what was on his plate. Sakura could nearly strangle him at that point. But she _had_ to be patient for the sake of her plan.

"You could at least say a nice 'thank you'."

The terrified man warily poked at the unidentified mushy object with a fork.

"Stop playing with your food!" Sakura finally shouted at him.

"I'm just checking if it's poisoned."

_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale._

_Calm down, Sakura. Just calm down._

_You'll just have to put up with him until you get this whole betrothal thing done and over with._

_THEN you can hire someone to kill him._

"I'm just going to the kitchen," she said. "But as soon as I come back here, you better make sure that you finish your food." She turned around and walked ahead.

"Or _what_?" his voice caught up behind her, making her stop.

She slowly turned her head, glaring at him over her shoulder. "_Or_ I'll shove that entire thing down your throat!" she shouted and marched her way into the kitchen.

_God…_

Was it just her or did she actually sound like a scary mother back there?

And just where was her brother? He should have been at home minutes ago! If he had only arrived earlier, her plan for the day would have been a success a long time ago and she could have finally kicked Syaoran's ass a sweet 'bye-bye' and out of the house.

Sakura laughed quietly at the thought. _I'd love to do just that._

She walked over to the kitchen counter where her bag was and reached into it to grab her book. She flipped the book open to the last page she had read.

"Step C…" Sakura suddenly turned red at the next words that followed. "_Wait—what?!_"

She had enough of Syaoran for the day and now the book was telling her to actually go ahead and do something _like that_ to him?! Just who the heck does the book think it is, telling her to do stuffs against her will?

_Stupid book. You have no right to command me._

Well, it wasn't like it was such a big deal. She did kiss Syaoran twice already, the first one initiated by her, and the second one by the evil and sly Syaoran. So, no need to be nervous, right? This next step shouldn't be so hard, right? But why could she feel her heart practically pounding in and out of her body right now?

Sweat drops were starting to form on her head. "I can't do this!"

"Oh? What's this?" Sakura yelped when she suddenly felt two arms wrapping around her waist. "_'Intimacy like ABC'_? Sounds interesting."

Sakura tried to wiggle out of the man's arms but to no avail, she was stuck between his body and the kitchen counter. "W-Why are you here a-and not over there?!" she stuttered, feeling very conscious of the heat of his body behind her back.

Syaoran shrugged. "I was bored. And you were taking too long. So I thought of coming over to see what you were doing." It was already too late before Sakura noticed that the book was slipping from the touch of her fingers. "'Dating and Relationships for Dummies'," Syaoran said, reading the front cover aloud. "So, this explains why you've been acting very odd this afternoon."

Sakura felt completely embarrassed now that she was found out. "Give that back to me!" she shouted as she was trying to free herself from the man's unmovable arms.

"Step C—"

"Wait! Stop!"

"Charm your beloved with sparks and colors."

"D-Don't read it!"

"Talk to the person you love. Let your beloved feel how much you love him/her. Or better yet, share a moment so unforgettable that he/she would never forget."

Sakura covered her ears. She couldn't take the humiliation any longer.

_Oh, God! Take me now!_

"Let your partner _feel_ you through a passionate game of—"

_Please don't say it!_

"—_sex_."

_Dear otou-san,_

_I'm about to get myself get raped._

_If by any chance you see a pale girl's naked body lying over the floor in the kitchen, please don't be so surprised._

_That would just be me._

Sakura carefully turned her head to see what kind of expression Syaoran was having at that moment. She feared that she would have to face a regrettable situation that she brought upon herself. She was expecting him to do what he usually does, making a perverted or suggestive move when he had the chance. But instead, all she heard was—

"_Are you kidding me?_"

"You…" Sakura nervously looked up at him. "You're not going to _rape_ me?"

"And why the hell would I do that?" Sakura was relieved to hear him say that but for some reason, she felt more irritated than relieved with the way he said it. "I've got a good taste in women. Just so you'd know, _flat-chested girls_ are out of the question. And that includes you, _flat tops_."

_Dear otou-san,_

_Forget what I've said earlier._

_If you see a dead _man's _body sprawled all over the floor, please don't be surprised._

_That would just be something I did… _accidentally.

Sakura dangerously glared at the man with chestnut hair who looked back at her with an eyebrow arched into the air.

_Play a passionate game of sex: MISSION ABORTED._

_NEW MISSION: Assassinate Li Syaoran._

* * *

A/N: This is it for this story's latest chapter. I'm _really, really, REALLY_ sorry for taking a long time to update (I think it's been a month or so). Been very busy lately... hehe... Anyway, thank you so much for the kind reviews! They really encourage me to keep this story going! Although I may not be able to update as quickly as the others, rest assured that more chapters will be on their way :D Again, thank you!

_~EiffiE_


	4. Chapter 4

**You're My Check-Mate**

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

Plan #4:

Do not always spill the bean.  
Some _secrets_ are meant to be kept.

**~ o ~ O ~ o ~**

"Are you really trying to kill me?" Syaoran questioned while evading another fork that was thrown at him at the same time. "Because I don't see any progress at all."

Sakura clenched her fists, irritated that she couldn't even get one—just_ one_ fork to hit him. Why did he have to keep dodging everything? It wasn't like she was really going to kill him. All she ever threw at him were just made of plastic anyway. "Just stay still and let me hit you." And she threw another one.

"Oops. You missed." Sakura bent the last fork on her hand. She couldn't believe that he was able to dodge it… again.

_Gah! This is so annoying!_

"Alright, I'll let you hit me just this once."

She was really about to lose all hope until Syaoran actually offered to get himself hit by her plastic fork. It was surprising to know that he could actually be so nice and understanding sometimes. "You'll really do that for me?" she asked smiling, full of hope.

Syaoran chuckled softly. "Too bad you just broke your last one."

Sakura glanced at the broken fork on her hand. Just how more unfortunate could this day get?

"I hate you."

"I love you too, _flat tops_," the man innocently smiled at her.

The broken plastic fork on Sakura's hand was pitifully crushed into dust.

_Why?_

_Why did I have to choose _him_ of all people?_

_WHY?!_

Syaoran sighed. "Don't fret." He went behind her and put his arms around her neck. "Like the doctors say, 'a glass of milk a day will make your _problems_ go away'."

"Oh? What kind of problems?" asked the naive girl whose curiosity made her forgot that Syaoran was already getting too close for his own sake.

"Like your 'chest issues', for example."

Sakura looked up to him and frowned. "But I drink milk every morning…"

Syaoran turned his back on her and covered his mouth as he was preventing himself from making a single laughing sound. "Well," he continued, trying to look as calm and as normal as possible, "have you tried _praying_ for 'them' to grow big?"

She held her chin and looked up in the air. "Hmm… I do pray every night before I go to bed but nothing's still happening."

"_Pfft._"

"I'm not stupid not to notice that you've been laughing at me."

Syaoran smiled. He tilted his eyes away after muttering 'says the naive idiot' to her face.

"I heard that!" she screamed at him.

"I pity you. Seems like even God had given up on your 'tiny' blessings."

"That's called sexual harassment!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's amazing how you just noticed."

Sakura threw her hands up in the air. "I've had enough of this! I'm going to give myself a hot bath."

She started walking and passed by him but as soon as she took another step on the floor, she felt her foot slipping away on some mushy object on the ground. She could feel her body lightly falling against the air while hearing Syaoran shouting out her name. And before she knew it, she was lying on the floor, her eyes completely dazzled by what had just happened.

_What happened?_

No, the question should be, _'What was that mushy object doing on the floor in the first place?'_

She began to remember how she threw Syaoran's plate at him after he told her that he had no interest in flat-chested girls (the plate was just made of plastic by the way, so it was perfectly safe). But unfortunately, the plate didn't hit him so the food just fell on the ground. And that was when she started throwing forks at him, which were also made of plastic, until she ran out of them. And then, they had that discussion about milk and her breasts (why did she even have that kind of talk with him in the first place?). And after Syaoran tired her out, she decided to just cool off her head with a hot bath while waiting for her onii-chan to come home so she could finally introduce her 'boyfriend' to him.

And so, she walked and walked until finally, she stepped on that gooey, slimy object, which turned out to be the food she made; and eventually, she came to her present situation.

It was ironic that her glorious creation couldn't hit Syaoran yet it made a strike at her instead.

_My mashed potato… How could you betray me?_

"Are you all right?"

Sakura suddenly noticed that something was strange. Her head felt like it was lying against something that felt like a hand. And why did her body feel so heavy?

"Sakura?"

It was like the weight of another person was on top of her.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" the voice sounded very concerned. Or should she say it actually sounded rather 'hot'…

_Hot?_

"Hey, Sakura!"

She snapped back to reality.

"S-Syaoran?"

"Other than being naive, you're also such a klutz!" he scolded. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I… I'm fine…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Then why is your face so red?"

She obviously couldn't tell him that it was because she found his voice so _hot_, most especially when he sounded so worried for her. And she also couldn't tell him that the fact he was _on top_ of her embarrassed her a lot.

Sakura drifted her shy emerald eyes away. "You're kind of… heavy," she told him instead. Well, it was the truth.

Syaoran's cheeks turned a little red, she noticed. She couldn't believe she was going to say this to herself but… _He looks so cute!_

"R-Right… Sorry…"

He was about to lift himself up and get off of her when they were both startled by a loud smash that echoed through the four corners of the room.

"What… _What is the meaning of this?!_" shouted a very furious voice behind them.

_Oh, crap! And he had to come home at the worst possible time…_

When Sakura immediately noticed whose voice it was, she quickly pushed Syaoran off her. She freaked out when she saw a huge crack on the wall with _that _man's hand over it. She couldn't believe that her wonderful brother just broke the wall! Imagine the amount of cash they would have to waste just to have it fixed!

Touya glared dangerously at the fearfully sweating young man with trains of smoke coming out of every possible part of his body. "What did you just do to my imouto?!"

"W-W-Wait, onii-chan! This isn't what you think!" Sakura clung herself around Syaoran's arms. She took a quick glance at him when she felt just from his pulse that he was clearly about to break. "You remember _him_, right? This is my boyfriend—"

Touya grabbed hold of Syaoran's shirt and stole him from Sakura's grasps. "Or you meant 'molester'," he growled at Syaoran who fearfully squeaked the tiniest 'hi' that he could get out of his mouth.

Sakura sighed. Knowing Touya, she knew it would be impossible to stop him at moments such as this. Just imagine why she couldn't get herself a single date over the past years. Yep. Her brother was _plenty_ helpful, all right.

She looked over at Syaoran and bowed her head in empathy. "I'll call your lawyer and ask him to arrange the funeral."

"W-What?! SAKURA!"

_Oh dear…_ Thanks to her muscle-idiot of a brother, she would have to search once again for another pretend-boyfriend. Too bad. And she even thought _he_ was 'hot'.

_What a waste._

**- O -**

"I see…" muttered the person from the other line of the phone.

"And that's not all!" Sakura bolted onto the phone. "Because of him, Syaoran was forced to leave the house immediately! He was hurrying out so much yesterday that he even forgot that I have his car keys! So now, I have to go and bring his car to him because he obviously can't come here and simply get his car back now that onii-chan mistook him for a molester and threatened to kill him!" She quickly took in a deep breath to recover from her long grumbles.

"Uh-huh."

There was a long pause in between the one-sided conversation.

"Is that really all you can say? Don't you feel an inch of pity?" Sakura complained.

"May I know again _why_ you're telling me all this?" the male voice asked.

"Because you said you're wife is not around and I badly needed to have someone to throw all my stress to right now."

"And because Tomoyo is not around, it really just _had_ to be me," his sarcastic voice was a hint of telling her to leave him alone and raise her endless whines at someone else.

"Uh, _yes_? Who else would it be." She later heard him making low mumbles that sounded pretty much like curses to her ears.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but I'm really busy."

"Busy?" Sakura questioned. " Isn't it already past nine over there in your country? I thought Tomoyo said you're pretty free after you get off from work."

"I am free," answered the man. "What I meant to say is that I'm about to get _busy_ as soon as Tomoyo comes home. I have to get myself prepared."

Sakura had no intention of asking him another 'busy' question. She was pretty sure he meant 'busy' as another word in a stupid couple's dictionary, which she didn't want to hear from him either. Seriously… When did those two ever take a break?

"Hey, Eriol-kun…"

"Can't you just continue with the whining after Tomoyo gets home?" he sighed.

"What would you do if you found out that you were engaged to someone you don't know?"

"Sakura," his voice said strictly, "I _am_ already married—and to your best friend, just to remind you."

"I know that." She rolled her eyes. "Try putting yourself in my shoes."

"I'll probably try to get to know the person first before making any judgements."

"And if you don't like the person?"

"I'll have the person… _exterminated_."

"Oh…" Sakura paused slightly. "I see…"

"That was a joke," Eriol quickly added with tension clearly in his voice. "I don't want to be blamed for getting you into a life sentence in prison."

Sakura sighed. She really was worried of what to do in case her fiancé would turn out to be 'ugly'—_not_ physically ugly but mentally, psychologically, threateningly, and frighteningly bad like an evil villain. But before that, she had another problem. How would she know how 'ugly' her fiancé was if he always travelled overseas? Just when would she ever meet him? The day before their 'supposed' wedding?

"How is he?" asked Eriol.

"Hm?"

"Your fiancé." Sakura suddenly flinched. She didn't really like talking about her fiancé, except with Tomoyo though. "Tomoyo told me you've never met him before. Could he finally be that 'Syaoran' guy you were talking about?"

"Ah, Syaoran…" She was relieved to know that they weren't talking about her _real _fiancé. "Actually, Syaoran is just playing boyfr—" Her eyes went big when she realized just what she was about to spurt out.

Like hell she would tell Eriol who Syaoran was! She couldn't just go and tell him, 'Oh, he's my _affair buddy_ who's helping me get out of this stupid engagement.' She was originally planning to tell Tomoyo every single truth about her 'plan' but this was Eriol she was talking to!

Eriol was one heck of a powerful guy who had so many connections that it could amount to the size of the entire Japan! If he could do as much evil as to use his connections to steal away Tomoyo, whom he himself claimed to be the prettiest woman in Japan, there was no doubt he would also expose her cruel 'plan' to her fiancé if ever he knew who that was.

"Uhm… Who are we talking about again?" Sakura anxiously asked, trying to avoid the topic.

"_That_ 'Syaoran'," Eriol stressed onto the phone. "You just said his name so many times in your previous complaints."

Her forehead was starting to drip drops of sweat. "You know what, my phone bill is running high so I gotta cut the call."

"Oi. Don't try avoiding the—"

"Bye!"

She hung up.

_Please don't make him suspicious! Please don't make him suspicious! Please don't make him suspicious!_ Yeah, right. After hanging up on him right after he asked about Syaoran, of course he would get suspicious. Then, he would probably use his 'connection' powers to research all about her 'plan' and eventually expose her evil deeds to the world.

_Drats…_

**- O -**

"Thank you for shopping and please come again!" The nervous clerk smiled uncomfortably at the woman who was glaring intently at him. "K-Kinomoto-san, is there anything else I could probably help you with?" Yamazaki finally asked after a long while of being stared at.

The auburn-head girl softened the look in her eyes and smiled kindly. "I'm glad you asked! I'm actually looking for Syaoran. He won't answer his phone. I don't know where he lives. And it seems like he didn't go to work today as well."

Yamazaki suddenly gulped in, which Sakura saw. A witty lil' smile formed across her lips. She knew at that very moment that he definitely _knew_ something.

"Do you maybe know where he might be, Yamazaki-san?" she cutely asked, but Yamazaki only gave her a shook of his head.

Still, Sakura smiled.

Yamazaki looked away.

Sakura smiled even more.

Yamazaki was starting to sweat.

Sakura smiled an even bigger smile than big.

Yamazaki pulled his hair with a face full of frustrations. "Okay! I get it! I'll tell you where he is! Just please… stop that! I'm begging you! You're freaking me out, Kinomoto-san!"

_Wow… He lost it._

"So, where is he?"

"He's currently staying at my place 'til he gets his car back since he lives kind of far from here," Yamazaki said. "Do you want me to give you the address right now?"

"Nah. I'll wait for you so that I can just drive us there."

"Oh! I didn't know you have a car!"

Sakura uneasily scratched her cheeks. "Well… I wouldn't say it's mine, exactly."

**- O -**

"Sakura?!" shouted the surprised young man who just came out of the bathroom.

The stunned auburn head dropped her bag and stared at the person standing in front of her, jaw dropped down at the very sight that blinded her.

_Oh, God… Is this heaven?_

Sakura could feel herself lightly floating in the air as she had her two eyes on the gorgeous piece of meat in front of her. Any girl in the world would completely melt over a pretty guy who was half-naked with only a piece of towel wrapped around his sexy waist. And to think that he would actually look so hot with his chocolate bangs dripping wet over his lovely face.

She may have seen her big brother's half-naked body thousands of times but _this_… _This_ is definitely what you call _'sexy'_.

Yamazaki quickly ran behind Sakura and shielded her eyes with his two hands. "Syaoran! Please put some clothes on!" he yelled. He uncovered her eyes as soon as Syaoran was out of sight. "I'm sorry about that, Kinomoto-san. I forgot to call Syaoran and tell him that you were going to come over as well."

"Don't worry about it. In fact, I should actually be _thanking_ you," Sakura smiled very brightly. A lovely view like _that_ may never come again.

A few minutes had passed and Syaoran finally came out of his room. This time, with _real_ clothes on.

"I didn't think you'd actually come here," Syaoran snorted as he was drying out his hair with a towel and sat on the couch beside Sakura.

The girl lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Uhm, surprise?"

"Sorry I didn't get to answer your calls. I left my phone here when I went out."

"It's okay, really," she smiled. "I should actually be the one apologizing for, uhm, you know… yesterday…"

Syaoran trembled a little. "Yeah, uh… L-Let's just forget about that."

"So…" Sakura fidgeted on her seat and shyly took a glance at him. "Are we good now?"

"Yeah, we're good," he gave her a pleasant smile. "So," Syaoran looked around, "where's Yamazaki?"

She carefully glanced at the window. "He… uh… went out to do something."

"Ah."

And there was a still silence.

Sakura couldn't help but feel nervous on her seat. The moment Syaoran showed up after putting on some clothes, there was a little bit of uneasiness that began to curdle inside of her. She couldn't understand what was making her feel a little edgy around him. They had been together for a few days but she never felt that way before.

_Maybe it's because it's awkwardly quiet right now?_

"Would you like something to drink?"

She turned to him in a little surprise. "Hm? I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Tea, juice, or water?"

"Oh, uhm… Water is fine," she smiled.

"Okay." Syaoran stood up. "Be right back."

Right after he left, Sakura took in a deep breath and sighed. Was it just her or did Syaoran seem unusually normal and gentle that day? It felt hearteningly good to be able to talk to him like that. But when she suddenly remembered about his car, she panickingly stood from her seat and peeked outside from the window.

"What are you looking at?"

Sakura jumped at Syaoran's voice. She swiftly turned around and smiled weakly. "N-Nothing! Just… seeing the view."

"Well, here's your water." He handed her a glass of the drink.

"Thanks." She tried to calm herself as she was drinking the glass of water. "You know, you seem like you actually own this place."

Syaoran shrugged. "I've been here a lot of times. I guess that's why I feel pretty much at home."

"Is this kind of like your hideout from your stalker fans?" she joked and took another drink.

He looked at her amusingly and smirked. The look in his eyes told her that she should regret the words she had just said. "Yeah, and incredibly, you're the _first_ to find out." He took a step towards her, trapping her between his body and the wall.

Completely shocked with their current situation, Sakura couldn't swallow the water inside her mouth as his face got closer. She couldn't believe what was happening right now. Just a while ago, they were sharing a normal conversation. So, she was greatly wondering what could have possibly brought her in a situation where Syaoran was standing so close to her with his flirty mindset yet again.

"You always get your way to me no matter how many times I try to avoid you. I'm honestly starting to find you…" the hotness of his breath brushed against her face as he whispered, "…_interesting_."

Water spat everywhere, including Syaoran's face.

Sakura coughed hard before weakly looking up at the irritated man whose face was all wet. "S-S-Sorry! But it's your fault for saying something like that so suddenly!"

"Forget it," he lowly grunted as he wiped his face. "Let's get to the point. You're here 'cause you brought my car with you, didn't you?"

_Crap! Why does he have to bring that up now?_

"Is my Porsche in a good condition?"

And he just had to bring more chills to her spine. _God!_ She hated being asked that question.

"Well?"

Sakura stared down at her little fingers as she was playing with them. "I… _think_ the car's okay…" she said rather slowly.

"That awful tone in your voice tells me it isn't."

She turned her head to him and glared. "It is!—" When she saw Syaoran's terrifying eyes that were looking down on her, her life energy slowly left her. "—I think…?" she weakly smiled, her voice going down a few notches.

Syaoran heaved a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to take a look."

Before he could leave the apartment, the door slammed open with a frantic-looking black haired guy popping inside.

"Kinomoto-san! Bad news! I couldn't hide the scratch mark on the—" Yamazaki arched an eyebrow when he saw Sakura anxiously shaking her head as she was waving her hands, as if telling him to shut up. "What's wrong with you?"

"What 'scratch mark' are you talking about?"

Yamazaki looked at the direction of the voice and jumped as soon as he saw a frighteningly calm Syaoran with his arms crossed above his chest. "Ah, S-Syaoran! So you were here?" he laughed nervously.

Syaoran rubbed his temples. "Please tell me you're not referring to _my_ car."

"Weeeell…" Yamazaki looked right and left while scratching his head. "About _that_…"

Syaoran clenched his fists. "Yamazaki," came out a low growl.

"_Eep!_"

And all hell broke loose.

Sakura quietly sneaked out while she had the chance and waited patiently at the convenience store right across Yamazaki's apartment. As much as she felt guilty that Yamazaki had to be the one to face Syaoran instead of her, she was also thankful she got out before Syaoran could point his attention at her. She only prayed no one would end up permanently unconscious that day.

**- O -**

"Thanks for walking me home, Yamazaki-san." The black-haired man with a bandage wrapped around his head smiled as much as he could. Sakura looked at him worryingly. "I'm sorry this happened."

"It's nothing. This is normal, really."

Sakura wondered if Syaoran hit his head too much.

"It's my fault for allowing you to drive his car even after he told me not to let you."

_Even Syaoran doesn't want me to drive. Great._

"Wait, he knew I was going to come to you?"

He shrugged. "He had a hunch."

"But if he knew that I was eventually going to bring his car to him, why did he try to avoid me by not coming to work?"

"That's not really the reason why he didn't go to work today," he answered.

"Then, why?"

Yamazaki searched around for an answer. "I'm not sure if I heard right but… I think he said something like 'going to an engagement'?"

Sakura felt a huge thump in her heart.

"I'm not really sure. Don't mind me," Yamazaki laughed lightly while scratching his head until he noticed the pale look on her face. "Kinomoto-san? What's wrong?"

_He's… _'engaged'_?_


End file.
